Old, Cramped Building Has Glendale Police Planning New Headquarters

After coping with cramped offices, pipes that spew sewage into the locker room, and a faltering air-conditioning system, Glendale police hope to soon replace their aging 35-year-old station with a new, state-of-the-art headquarters that could cost $20 million.

The existing structure at the corner of Wilson Avenue and North Isabel Street was built to accommodate a staff only half the size of the department’s current work force of 350. Several designs have been proposed for a new station, one for a three-building, 168,000-square-foot complex, which would triple the current space.

A new facility would be expensive, requiring the purchase of a large parcel of land for a new jail and parking structure, but proponents say officers will have more space to do their jobs.

“There’s only so many people you can put in a given space, and after a while you begin to feel cramped,” said Officer Carl Povilaitis of the department’s burglary detail. The noise, the telephones, the distractions that interfere with your thought processes--you can’t get away from that stuff here.”

In one room, about 40 workers are clustered in cubicles, with documents piled high on and under desks and in overhead storage bins. Department officials say the clutter, in some places, violates city building codes.

Computers, firearms, stereos, lawn mowers and other seized evidence is piled on desks, in conference rooms, and in any other available space. There are thousands of boxes in the basement, and some items, including recovered stolen bicycles and other goods, are kept in an area surrounded by a chain-link fence in the alley behind the building.

The building has its share of technical problems as well. In addition to sewer backups and poor ventilation, water and earthquake damage is visible throughout the two-story station, and the main elevator is temperamental.

“You can only fix up an old car so much until you need a new one,” said Officer Randy Osborne. “This station was built in the early 1960s, and the city and this department have grown immensely since then. It’s time to get a new car.”

A consultant’s study recommended the new station complex be centered around a new police operations building, to be located adjacent to the existing station on Isabel.

The new building would contain administrative offices, a communications center, interview rooms, an auditorium, rooms for video arraignments and other facilities. The existing station would be renovated and converted to “non-operational” police functions, including counseling, child care and evidence storage.

Overall, the new station would have about 270 square feet of space per officer, meeting the state standard. The current station has about 150 square feet per officer.

But for the scenario to work, the city would have to purchase a roughly two-acre parcel to build a combined parking structure and 30,000-square-foot jail, which would connect to the main building via an above-ground walkway. City officials are reportedly talking to the owner of the land, Chung Hyun Moon Korean Church, but they won’t disclose what they expect to pay for the land.

John Beach, a political activist, has criticized the plan, saying that a large city-owned parking lot located across the street from the police station should be used instead. But the city has promised to lease the parcel to a developer who wants to build a parking structure there for a large retail mall--a move that, Beach contends, is not in the taxpayers’ best interest.

“We discussed that property, but [the shopping center] was already a done deal,” countered Councilman Larry Zarian. “To take it away would cut off the right arm of that entire development. We need a state-of-the art police department and we need tax dollars to pay for it. To cut off the arm that brings in tax dollars doesn’t make sense.”

In researching the project, police and other city officials toured police stations in nearby cities, including Pasadena’s modern $15-million station built in the late 1980s. They also looked at the plans for Burbank’s $25-million police and fire complex, to be built next year.

The City Council has already set aside $20.5 million for the station, although actual costs could push the figure higher. The new station probably won’t be built before 1998, said Lt. Mark Distaso.

“It’s going to be an expensive project, but it’s going to be a facility that not only meets our needs today, but accommodates for growth in personnel and technology for decades to come,” Distaso said.